Direct and Indirect Questions What is a question? A question is a request for information or action.

When writing a question you should always end the sentence with a question mark (?).

Closed questions Closed questions demand a yes/no, true/false or right/wrong answer. When we want to ask yes/no questions we can use do/does, am/is/are or have/has as question words. We use do or have or am with personal pronouns (I), we use does or has or is with third person singular pronouns (he, she, it) and with singular noun forms. We use do or have or are with other personal pronouns (you, we they) and with plural noun forms. Yes/no questions with the verb be are created by moving the verb be to the beginning of the sentence. In other words the subject and the verb change their positions in statements and questions. Statement: I am from England. Question: Am I from England?

When forming questions in the present continuous tense use the verb be. I You He She It We They am speaking English. are speaking English. is speaking English. is speaking English. is speaking English. are speaking English. are speaking English. = = = = = = = Am Are Is Is Is Are I you he she it we speaking English? speaking English? speaking English? speaking English? speaking English? speaking English? speaking English?

Are they

When forming questions in the present simple tense use the verb be, do, or have. The auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.

To Be

If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is a form of be , simply switch the positions of the subject and verb. I You He She It We They
To Do

am are is is is are are

English. English. English. English. English. English. English.

= = = = = = =

Am Are Is Is Is Are Are

I you he she it we they

English? English? English? English? English? English? English?

If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is do, simply switch the positions of the subject and verb. I You He She It We They
To Have

do. do. does. does. does. do. do.

= = = = = = =

Do Do Does Does Does Do Do

I? you? he? she? it? we? they?

If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is have, (with or without got to show possession), switch the positions of the subject and verb. I have You have He has She has It has We have (got) an English book. (got) an English book (got) an English book (got) an English book (got) an English book (got) an English book = = = = = = Have I (got) an English book?

Have you (got) an English book? Has he (got) an English book? Has she (got) an English book? Has it (got) an English book?

Have we (got) an English book?

They have

(got) an English book

Have they (got) an English book?

We can also form this style of question with Dohave? here there is no subject-verb inversion, do is placed before the subject. I You He She It We They have breakfast every morning. have breakfast every morning. has breakfast every morning. has breakfast every morning. has breakfast every morning. have breakfast every morning. have breakfast every morning. = = = = = = = Do I have breakfast every morning? have breakfast every morning? have breakfast every morning? have breakfast every morning? have breakfast every morning? have breakfast every morning? have breakfast every morning?

Do you Does he Does she Does it

Do we Do they

If there is one verb, and the verb is not a form of be, the process is more complex. To form a question add the correct form of the verb 'to do' to the beginning. Here there is no subject verb inversion. I You He She It We They speak English. speak English. speaks English. speaks English. speaks English. speak English. speak English. = = = = = = = Do I Do you Does he Does she Does it Do we Do they speak English? speak English? speak English? speak English? speak English? speak English? speak English?

Answering a Closed Question

For example: "Are you from England?" You can answer closed questions with "Yes" or "No". You can also answer closed questions with a slightly longer answer "Yes, I am." or "No, I'm not." Finally you can answer closed questions in the long form "Yes, I am from England." or "No, I'm not from England."

Open Questions Open questions leave room for a description or opinion, and are more useful in eliciting information Open questions are often called Wh.. questions:There are eight wh-questions - what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose and why and to this list we usually add how as they are all used to elicit particular kinds of information. You use what when you are asking for information about something. You use when to ask about the time that something happened or will happen. You use where to ask questions about place or position. You use which when you are asking for information about one of a limited number of things. You use who or whom when you are asking about someone's identity. You use whose to ask about possession. You use why to ask for a reason. You use how to ask about the way in which something is done. Question word What When Where Which Who Whose Why How Verb is is are is are is is are + your name? the party? you from? your car? you? this web site? this web site here? you? Answer My name is Lynne. The party is on Tuesday. I'm from England. The red car is mine. I'm Lynne. It's mine. Because it is! I'm fine thanks.

What, which and whose can be used with or without a noun as a question word. For example:What time is it? = What is the time? Which car is yours? = Which is your car? Whose web site is this? = Whose is this web site? Whom can only be used to elicit information about the object of the sentence. Although using whom would be grammatically correct, we normally use who instead because it doesnt sound so formal. For example:"Whom did you see?" would normally be expressed as "Who did you see?"

Who, what, which and whose can all be used to elicit information about the subject or object of the sentence. For example:If the answer is "I ate the banana." the object question would be "What did you eat?" and the subject question would be "Who ate the banana?"

Object Questions Object questions ask about the object of a sentence. The word order of the question must be changed and the question requires the use of the auxiliary verb 'to do'. For example:If the answer is "I caught the train to London." the question would be "Which train did you catch?" If the answer is "I saw a film yesterday." the question would be "What did you do yesterday?"

Subject Questions There are also subject questions. These are questions that we ask to find out about the subject. When what, which, who or whose refers to the subject, the question word comes before the verb without the use of the auxiliary verb. For example:If the answer is "The train to London was late." the question would be "Which train was late?" If the answer is "I won the race." the question would be "Who won the race?" More examples:Object questions:What did you do today? Which film did you like best? Who did I phone? Subject questions:What happened today? Which film is best? Who phoned me?

Tag Questions
What is a tag question?

A tag question is a short question added to the end of a positive or negative statement. For example:He is, He does, He will, He can,
How are they formed?

isn't he? doesn't he? won't he? can't he?

Normally a positive statement is followed by a negative tag, and a negative statement is followed by a positive tag. For example:-

+
You're English, aren't you?

+
are you?

You're not German,

The statement and the tag are always separated by a comma.

The verb in the statement should be the same tense as the verb in the tag. For example:Present tense You are a good singer, Past tense You didn't go to work yesterday, Present perfect tense You have been to London, present tense aren't you? past tense did you? present perfect tense haven't you?

If the verb used in the statement is an auxiliary verb, then the verb used in the tag must match it. If a modal (can, could, will, should, etc.) is used in the statement, then the same modal is used in the tag part. If the statement doesn't use an auxilliary verb, then the auxiliary do is used in the tag part. For example:Auxiliary verb She is from England, They aren't very nice, She doesn't like it here, Modal verb You can sing, They shouldn't do that, No auxiliary He eats meat,

isn't she? are they? does she? can't you? should they? doesn't he?

Why do we use them?

Tag questions are used to verify or check information that we think is true or to check information that we aren't sure is true. Sometimes we just use them for effect. We show the meaning of the tag question through intonation. If the tag is a real question it has a rising intonation. For example:The chairman's coming at 3.00, isn If the tag is not a real question it has a flat or falling intonation. For example:It's a nice day today,

't he?

isn't it?

! It is possible for a positive statement to be followed by a positive tag for even more effect (sarcasm, anger, disbelief, shock, concern etc.). For example:-

Oh you will, will you? You think you're funny, do you? Direct and Indirect Questions First I would like to say that this is my explanation of what direct and indirect questions are, and not everyone would agree with me. When you ask a direct question, like "What time is the meeting?" you're being quite informal, some might even say abrupt, or even rude. You can make it more polite by adding please, "What time is the meeting, please?", but to be even more polite we rephrase it into an indirect question; "Do you know what time the meeting is?", or "Could you tell me what time the meeting is?" and if you want to be really OTT "Could you tell me what time the meeting is, please?" They're all the same question as "What time is the meeting?", but we think it's more polite to rephrase it, it can be confusing, and some people even think it's long-winded and unnecessary. Other ways of starting indirect questions are:Would you mind telling me... Can you tell me... Have you any idea what ....